MOHS Surgery to Resect the Precancer

 MOHS Surgey to Resect the Precancer

 

    The day of the MOHS surgery I was so nervous. I knew it was going to be incredibly painful and disgusting. When the doctor injected the lidocaine into my eyelid, my whole body tensed up, and all I could do was dig my nails from hand into my other hand. This was the most intense, worst pain I ever felt in my entire life, thankfully, not the most enduring. He needed to numb a very large area and it seemed like each shot hurt just as much as the last. Usually, the first shot is the worst and it begins numbing the area so the consecutive shots are less painful. This was not the case. After the area was sufficiently numbed, he began carefully cutting away the affected skin. I tried my best to keep my eyes closed so I wouldn’t have to see his instruments. I could hear him scissoring off pieces of my eyelid that he had detached using a scalpel. The sound grossed me out. This process took what seemed like at least 10-15 minutes. He then cauterized the area as sparingly as possible, knowing that I would still need to have the area reconstructed. He wanted to do as little damage to the healthy tissue as possible. Next, he put gauze and tape over my eye and told me to hold it and apply pressure to stop the bleeding. I was told to wait in the waiting room while the diseased tissue was checked for clear margins. I would end up waiting somewhere between a half hour to 45 minutes. The waiting room was freezing and I was tired as my appointment had been for 7 in the morning. My eyelid was also in a lot of pain as the lidocaine was wearing off. I just wanted to lay down. I was then escorted back to the room. I was informed that the margins were not in fact clear. My stomach dropped. This meant more lidocaine shots to numb the area. It hurt just as bad as the first time, except, now I was picturing my chopped-up eyelid being jabbed several times with a needle. I think I might have held my breath a lot during the lidocaine injections as I dug my nails into my skin. I did my best to relax and breathe through the excision of more skin. Once again, it was back to the waiting room. After the results were in, I was once again escorted back to the room. I felt my body clenching as I awaited the results. The margins were still not clear. Once again, my stomach dropped. I couldn’t believe it. The process repeated again. This time I was allowed to stay in the room while I waited for the tissue to be checked. I was grateful for this as it was more comfortable than the waiting room. Once again, the doctor returned, and this time, success! The margins were clear. He removed the bandages, took pictures, and I was sent home. I had also been fasting and by this time I had been in the office for about three hours. I returned home and immediately went to lay down in my bed. I fell asleep for a short time before my mother woke me up and told me it was time to leave for the surgical center. I was now going to get my eyelid reconstructed.